EU probes IBM mainframe business

Big Blue alleges that anti-trust allegations have been fuelled by business rivals including Microsoft

Flagged up: The EC has launched two separate investigations into IBM's mainframe business

EU officials have initiated a formal probe into IBM’s mainframe business following allegations of anti-competitive behaviour.

The European Commission yesterday launched formal anti-trust investigations against Big Blue in two separate cases of alleged infringements of EU anti-trust rules in the €8.5bn (£7.1bn) mainframe market.

The first case follows complaints from emulator software vendors T3 and Turbo Hercules and focuses on allegations that IBM is tying its mainframe hardware to its mainframe operating system.

T3 and Turbo contend the alleged action could stop end users running critical applications on non-IBM hardware.

The second relates to Big Blue’s alleged discriminatory behaviour towards competing suppliers of mainframe maintenance services. This was launched on the commission’s own initiative.

According to the Financial Times, IBM has promised to co-operate with the probe but said there was no truth to the claims.

The vendor also alleged the accusations against it were being fuelled by rivals, including Microsoft, which holds a minority stake in T3.